Oklahoma Tribes - Oklahoma tribes disagree with state Supreme Court ruling

Oklahoma Tribes Federally Recognized Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma Oklahoma tribes disagree with state Supreme Court ruling

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Oklahoma tribes disagree with state Supreme Court ruling

A recent state Supreme Court ruling against an Oklahoma tribe could wind up in federal court. The state court voted 7-2 this week that a lawsuit against the Absentee Shawnee Tribe could continue. The lawsuit says a woman who had been drinking at a tribal-owned casino caused an auto accident that seriously injured another woman.

Little Axe schoolteacher Shatona Bittle was seriously injured in the crash. The driver of other car, Valentine Bahe, died in the crash.

The Supreme Court decision overturned previous rulings by a Pottawatomie County district judge and the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. Both courts had dismissed the case based on tribal sovereign immunity.

The decision did not address the merits of the case but sends it back to the district court for consideration.

The tribe claimed sovereign immunity but the court says the tribe gave up its sovereign immunity when it agreed to abide by a state law in order to get a license to sell liquor by the drink.

Osage Nation attorney Gary Pitchlynn calls the court's reasoning "juvenile." Pitchlynn says any waiver of sovereign immunity has to be clear and explicit and he says federal courts could eventually be called on to decide the issue.